U-46 board hears boundary worries

ELGIN — Bartlett-area parents, unhappy that Unit School District 46 could send their children to a new high school out of town next year, brought their objections to the school board Monday.

Thirty-six parents lined up to complain to board members that proposed high school boundaries would slice Bartlett's downtown and residential areas on the west and northwest sides out of the attendance area for Bartlett High School. Starting in fall 2005, students in those areas would travel 6 to 8 miles to the district's new high school in South Elgin.

Michelle Frasconi criticized the board for not following its own principles of neighborhood schools and urged the board to "keep the heart of Bartlett in Bartlett."

The new map, based on a demographer's recommendations, is intended to relieve high school overcrowding, including at Bartlett, where the enrollment of 2,990 exceeds capacity by 300 students.

The change would affect students who live west and north of the new boundary line, which runs north along Illinois Highway 59 from St. Andrews Golf Course to Stearns Road, turns east to South Bartlett Road, goes north to East Devon Avenue, runs east to the edge of town, and turns north to Lake Street.

The boundary proposal is scheduled for a June 28 board vote, but only if the board's advisory council, whose members will vote June 1, has approved it.

Approval then is not certain; the group sent the proposal back to its boundary committee once and added language urging the board to consider the nearness to existing schools and other policies in its deliberations.

Meanwhile, officials in Bartlett are pushing an effort to create their own, smaller district. Officials are considering placing a referendum question on the November ballot to gauge voters' interest in the proposal.